Thread: TX:Two illegal immigrants dead near Mathis

Two illegal immigrants dead near Mathis

By Stuart Duncan (Contact)
Monday, December 29, 2008

Authorities found two illegal immigrants dead near Mathis Monday and as many as five illegal immigrants may still be on the loose, San Patricio County officials said.

As many as 19 illegal immigrants were trying to escape from authorities after a San Patricio County Sheriff’s Department deputy was trying to make a routine traffic stop on a pickup truck the individuals were in , San Patricio County Sheriff Leroy Moody said.

The incident happened just after 9 a.m. Monday about five miles east of Mathis on State Highway 359, Moody said.

The truck ran into a ditch off of the highway while trying to escape from authorities and most of those in the vehicle fled on foot. One male in his late 20’s from Honduras was found dead in the back of the truck and may have died from a broken neck although authorities are awaiting the autopsy report, Moody said. Another deceased illegal immigrant from Honduras was found behind a house near Interstate 37 off Farm-To-Market Road 888 in Mathis, Moody said. The cause of death was unknown Monday afternoon, Moody said.

Three other illegal immigrants were transported — one by HALO-Flight and two by ambulance — to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries, Moody said.

As many as nine other illegal immigrants were apprehended by 2 p.m. Monday by as many as 10 law enforcement personnel from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Bee, Live Oak, and San Patricio County Sheriff’s Departments and the Department of Public Safety, Moody said. Those immigrants and the others that were hospitalized were to be turned over to the Border Patrol agents Monday, Moody said.
http://www.caller.com/news/2008/dec/29/ ... ar-mathis/

18 immigrants packed pickup
Two were killed and three are in the hospital
By Mike Baird
Originally published 01:42 p.m., December 30, 2008
Updated 12:00 a.m., December 31, 2008

There were 18 people in a pickup that crashed early Monday east of Mathis, killing two men from Honduras, officials said Tuesday.

The medical examiner's office Tuesday identified the men as Elder Arely Obando Ramos, 30, and Homero Humberto Rosales Gutierrez.

The medical examiner's office determined they both died of blunt-force trauma to the head caused by the accident. Ramos also was believed to have suffered blunt-force trauma to the chest. Authorities Tuesday had not determined Gutierrez's age.

All of the people in the pickup were undocumented immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico, said San Patricio County Sheriff Leroy Moody. One man still was missing Tuesday, Moody said.

"We looked for him until about 11 p.m. Monday," he said. "Now it's in the hands of border patrol and immigrations folks."

Moody did not know Tuesday the condition of three people injured who were taken to Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial. The other 12 occupants, including two women, have been turned over to immigration authorities, he said, as will those in the hospital.

Leticia Zamarripta, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman, said at least one of the men was 17, but she couldn't confirm ages on others. Two of the men in custody have been arrested and the U.S. Attorney's office has accepted a case against them for human smuggling, Zamarripta said.

"The investigation continues with agents still interviewing people," she said.

The chase began about 9 a.m. as a deputy tried to stop the pickup while northbound on State Highway 359. It veered onto a dirt road where it later crashed into a ditch, but kept going before all of the occupants fled on foot about five miles east of Mathis.

One of the two men killed was found inside the pickup. The other dead man, believed to be in his 20s, was found behind a house east of Interstate 37 and south of Farm-To-Market Road 888, about half an hour after the crash.

"The deputy lost them after the crash as they kept going, and they may have unloaded him there," Moody said.

The pickup is registered in McAllen, Moody said. But he didn't know who was driving.

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